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61.8 percent of recent high school graduates enrolled in college in October 2021

May 23, 2022

Of the 2.7 million people ages 16 to 24 who graduated from high school between January and October 2021, 1.7 million, or 61.8 percent, were enrolled in colleges or universities in October 2021. The college enrollment rate of recent high school graduates in October 2021 was little different from the rate of 62.7 percent in October 2020.

College enrollment rates of recent high school graduates 16 to 24 years old by sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, October 1993–2021
Year Total Men Women White Black or African American Asian Hispanic or Latino

1993

62.6% 59.7% 65.4% 62.8% 55.6% 62.5%

1994

61.9 60.6 63.2 63.6 50.9 48.9

1995

61.9 62.6 61.4 62.6 51.4 53.8

1996

65.0 60.1 69.7 65.8 55.3 50.7

1997

67.0 63.5 70.3 67.5 59.6 65.5

1998

65.6 62.4 69.1 65.8 62.1 47.5

1999

62.9 61.4 64.4 62.8 59.2 42.2

2000

63.3 59.9 66.2 64.0 56.2 53.0

2001

61.6 59.7 63.5 63.1 54.7 51.2

2002

65.2 62.1 68.4 66.7 58.7 53.5

2003

63.9 61.2 66.5 65.0 58.3 84.1 58.6

2004

66.7 61.4 71.6 68.4 61.1 76.0 61.9

2005

68.6 66.5 70.4 69.4 56.8 87.5 54.1

2006

66.0 65.9 66.1 66.8 55.6 82.4 58.1

2007

67.2 66.1 68.3 68.7 55.2 90.9 63.9

2008

68.6 65.9 71.5 70.8 54.9 87.5 63.8

2009

70.1 66.0 73.8 69.2 68.7 92.2 59.3

2010

68.1 62.8 74.0 68.6 61.4 84.0 59.6

2011

68.3 64.6 72.3 67.7 67.5 86.7 66.6

2012

66.2 61.3 71.3 66.6 58.2 82.2 70.3

2013

65.9 63.5 68.4 67.1 59.3 79.1 59.9

2014

68.4 64.0 72.7 67.3 70.9 86.1 65.2

2015

69.2 65.8 72.6 71.1 54.6 83.0 68.9

2016

69.7 67.4 71.9 69.7 58.2 92.4 72.0

2017

66.7 61.1 71.7 67.1 59.4 83.0 61.0

2018

69.1 66.9 71.3 69.6 63.6 73.4 65.5

2019

66.2 62.0 69.8 66.9 50.7 89.9 63.4

2020

62.7 59.3 66.2 62.9 56.6 83.2 56.2

2021

61.8 54.9 69.5 61.0 61.2 85.9 58.6

Note: Dash means data are not available.

Among 2021 high school graduates ages 16 to 24, the college enrollment rate for young women, at 69.5 percent in October 2021, continued to be higher than the rate for young men (54.9 percent). The college enrollment rate of Asians (85.9 percent) also continued to be higher than the rates for recent Black (61.2 percent), White (61.0 percent), and Hispanic (58.6 percent) graduates.

These data are from the Current Population Survey. For more information, see “College Enrollment and Work Activity of Recent High School and College Graduates — 2021.” People whose ethnicity is Hispanic or Latino may be of any race.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, 61.8 percent of recent high school graduates enrolled in college in October 2021 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2022/61-8-percent-of-recent-high-school-graduates-enrolled-in-college-in-october-2021.htm (visited April 23, 2024).

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